Just Desserts
by redwolffclaw
Summary: During a double date for Carlton and Juliet's 7th partner anniversary, the group discovers all isn't what it seems and someone is the target of a killer bent on revenge. Now, they need to find out who that target is before their celebratory dinner turns out to be just desserts. *Spoilers through the end of Season 7*
1. Happy Anniversary

_Written for Silverluna for the Secret Santa Fic exchange on Psychfic_

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: Silverluna gave a very interesting and challenging request and I did my best to deliver it :) **

**I'm splitting the chapters up in this even though it was one long one in the Secret Santa exchange. Hope the arrangement leaves some nice cliffies ;)**

***SPOILERS FOR SEASON 7***

* * *

**Just Desserts**

**Chapter 1: Happy Anniversary**

The night was still young as Carlton Lassiter and Juliet O'Hara enjoyed their seventh anniversary as partners for the Santa Barbara Police Department at one of their favorite restaurants. It used to be Antonio's but had changed hands after the owner had gotten in some hot water with a vegan group and later the board of health. With their reputation going down the drain, they'd decided to sell while they could and for the past few years it had been named Mario's.

The tradition had started six years ago as a way for Juliet to get to know Carlton outside of work in a way that didn't start out with Juliet snooping through Carlton's desk and ending up with her partner's home up for sale. Since then, they'd made it a habit to come to the place and just chat while celebrating being alive for another year.

Unfortunately, due to what they'd come to call, "The Trout Situation" they weren't technically partners anymore. Carlton was quick to point it out, but Juliet told him just as quickly to _shut it._ They were still partners no matter what an egotistical, control freak said.

This year, with Carlton's new relationship status, Juliet had suggested that they bring Shawn and Marlowe along with and make it a double date. The prospect of having to spend a meal sitting across from Shawn Spencer didn't outweigh the fact that he'd get to spend more time with his bride, so he'd accepted.

* * *

The restaurant was sparsely occupied as the group sat down and started to read the menus. With about thirty five other guests in attendance it was a slower night for the restaurant, as was usual for that day of the week.

"Oooh Carlton!" Marlowe exclaimed pointing at the menu, "They have those little cream puffs you like for dessert."

Carlton gave her a patient smile, even though he felt like melting into the seats. A snort from across the table didn't help any but it was cut short as Juliet elbowed her boyfriend in the ribs. "Ow!"

Shawn was still recovering when the waitress came to get their drinks. She wore a nametag that said **Denise** and pleasant smile that Shawn saw didn't quite reach her eyes. He passed it off as her just being tired. He'd had to wait on tables once for a couple of days. It was hard work, but the food made it worth it. She'd also brought water and a basket full of sampler breads that Juliet was eyeing with interest.

"Good evening and welcome to Mario's. I'm Denise and I'll be your server. Can I start you out with some drinks?"

Juliet made her choice. "I'll take a strawberry daiquiri."

Shawn chimed in, "I'll take a virgin Bahama Mama."

The waitress gave him a questioning look. "Um, isn't that just straight pineapple juice?"

"Yes, yes it is." Shawn replied simply.

Regaining her composure from such an odd request, Denise continued on, "Um okay, and what would you like to drink ma'am?" She asked as she turned to Marlowe.

Marlowe looked over the wine selection and was about to choose one of the more moderately priced ones when Carlton stopped her. "We'll take the Château Lynch-Bages." Marlowe gasped and smiled. He knew it was one of her favorite wines and had been planning on surprising her with it.

Juliet and Shawn grinned discretely, Carlton had been gushing about it all week, since they'd decided to make it a double date.

Denise nodded, "Excellent choice! That's one of our best wines." She smiled again and left to get their drinks.

Shawn settled back in the booth, putting his arm around Juliet's shoulder. "So Lassie, how are things at the Casa de Lassiter?" Shawn hoped a bit of small talk would get some of the awkwardness out of the evening. "Going _well_ I hope?"

Carlton narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out if Shawn was implying what he thought he was implying. "That's none of your damn business Spencer…"

"I'm _sure_," Juliet cast her boyfriend a warning glance, "That Shawn was just wondering how everything was going. We haven't really seen Marlowe since the wedding."

Marlowe smiled and put a calming hand on his arm. "Everything is great! I'm getting new curtains for the windows and Honey Bear here is picking out a couple of antique guns to mount on the wall, aren't you?"

Shawn turned to Juliet and mouthed, _Honey Bear?_ Before addressing Marlowe. "That's great. A bit safer to have around than swords. Right Lassie?"

Carlton pursed his lip and nodded reluctantly, obviously remembering his bout with insanity and almost killing Gus with his authentic saber.

While they continued to wait for the drinks, the topic shifted to Carlton and Juliet's past cases and they enjoyed talking about some of the more interesting ones. Juliet laughed through a mouthful of bread at the memories. "Oh my God!" She swallowed, the bread going down rough caused her to cough. Shawn rubbed her back till she stopped and handed her some water. She cast him an appreciative glance before taking a drink and continuing her story, "Remember the time when we got called to that ten-fifteen on State Street?"

Marlowe didn't follow and gave Carlton a questioning look.

"It means a disturbance, baby."

"Technically it's a civil disturbance." Juliet added with a smirk.

Nipping the ensuing argument in the bud, Shawn got Juliet back on track. "Soooo Jules, you were saying?"

"Oh right, so anyway this guy was yelling up a storm and had gotten himself caught in…" A crash across the dining room interrupted her tale and the three detectives were instantly on their feet, looking for the origin of the noise. It seemed that someone had fallen backwards out of their seat and lay unmoving on the floor. All three of them pushed through the gathering crowd to see what was going on.

"SBPD! Step aside!" Carlton ordered out of habit.

By the time they got there, a woman in her mid to late fifties was lying unresponsive on the ground, her eyes still open. By the pale pallor of her skin she definitely wasn't breathing.

While Carlton started taking off his jacket to put under her head, Shawn addressed the woman's table mates which consisted of another couple and a distraught man, who was presumably her date or husband, "What happened? Did she choke on something?"

The man shook his head, "No! She was just talking to us and she fell over!" He paused for a moment and remembered something, "She did say she felt dizzy."

Shawn assessed the situation; Juliet was getting the crowd back and Carlton looked like he was preparing to give the woman CPR. Her color wasn't blue, so it wasn't lack of oxygen, she just looked very very dead. His eyes skimmed over the table for more evidence and landed on the woman's glass. Lipstick smears stained the edge, it meant that she'd at least taken a drink of her wine. Shawn started to get a bad feeling about the situation.

Looking down, Shawn saw that Carlton was squeezing the woman's nose shut and taking a deep breath. "Lassie wait!" Shawn grabbed the detective by the back of his collar and was barely able to stop Carlton from doing rescue breaths.

"Get off me!" Carlton easily shrugged him off, "What the hell is wrong with you Spencer! I have to start CPR, this woman may be choking!"

Shawn shook his head as Juliet walked over to see what her partner was yelling about. "Look Lassie, she hasn't gotten her food yet, what in the world could she have possibly choked on?"

"Maybe it was her drink then?" Juliet added.

Nodding, Shawn agreed. "You're right sweetie, it was definitely her drink… but it was no accident. The drink was poisoned. This woman was murdered!"


	2. Wined and Dined

**Chapter 2: Wined and Dined**

"You can't be serious Spencer." Carlton scoffed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to save someone's life." He tried to go back to doing CPR but Shawn stopped him again.

"I'm not saying don't do CPR Lassie… just no mouth to mouth okay, just until we're sure?" Shawn pleaded.

Reluctantly, Carlton nodded, and started chest compressions.

Shawn sighed in relief right before Juliet grabbed him by the arm and yanked him away from the gathering crowd of lookie-loos.

The look on her face said she was not happy with him. "Shawn! You can't just go making that accusation in a public place! You'll cause a panic and we might lose any suspects that are still hanging around."

Shawn gazed around and saw that sure enough, people were starting to point and whisper. A manager approached them looking nervous and seemed unsure if he should bother them, "Excuse me officers, is there anything you need me to do?"

Shawn zeroed in on his name tag. **Larry.** "Oh, I'm not an officer." Shawn stuck out his hand, "Shawn Spencer. Head Psychic for the SBPD. This lovely visage is Detective Juliet O'Hara."

Juliet rolled her eyes, "Yes actually, it would be a big help if you gathered up your staff and make sure they're all accounted for. It would also be a big help if you locked the doors. We can't let anyone leave the restaurant until we figure out what's wrong with this woman _for sure_." Juliet glanced at Shawn, who gave her his best "oops" face.

The manager nodded. "Of course, we will cooperate any way we need to." He then hurried away, presumably to do as Juliet had asked.

"I think this might be a good time to call in Jules." Shawn stated as he watched Carlton do chest compressions on the woman, stopping periodically to feel for a pulse.

Juliet took his arm to get his attention. "Shawn, are you _sure_ this is poison and not just natural causes?"

"85.2% sure Jules. I mean, just look at it. Look at her eyes, look at her color. That's not normal."

Juliet looked and Shawn hoped she saw what he'd seen. The woman's pupils were dilated, her stare glassy and vacant. Her color was almost completely white as if something just flushed through her and she dropped. Juliet finally nodded, opened her phone, and walked off to call Chief Trout.

Breathing a sigh of relief. Shawn went back to watching Carlton, who was having no luck, as he had expected.

After another couple minutes, Carlton stood up and shook his head. "It's no use. She's gone." Sobbing started around the woman's table and Shawn grabbed an extra table cloth and covered the body. "I'm deeply sorry for your loss." Carlton continued solemnly before taking out a pen and notepad from his tux pocket. "Now, do you know of anyone who might have wanted this woman dead?"

The cacophony of crying from the table got louder at the insensitive comment.

Juliet returned just in time to see Carlton sputtering apologies and Shawn trying his best to do a smooth recovery. "What's going on?"

"O'Hara," Carlton breathed a sigh of relief. "What did Trout say?" Carlton blatantly refused to call him Chief _anything._

"He pretty much said what we've already done. Lock down the building and wait for back up."

"So, we're locked in too then right?" Shawn asked.

Juliet nodded, "It would seem so."

"Just great." Carlton grumbled and looked once more at the table of grieving relatives. "Could you see what you can get out of that lot? I'm going to go check on Marlowe."

"Okay partner." Juliet gave him a small smile as he walked away.

Shawn pursed his lips, "You know you really shouldn't encourage him like that. Trout isn't going to go easy on him. The whole demotion thing might just be the beginning. Next thing you know he'll be a meter maid… meter man... How about meter person? Isn't gender neutral names a thing now?" Shawn tried to find the right words but Juliet rolled her eyes and walked away to make sure no one was leaving the restaurant.

Snorting in annoyance at being ignored, Shawn turned to go back to their table. Carlton looked like he was telling Marlowe what had happened, if her shocked expression was any indication. Apparently, they'd also forgotten to tell the manager not to serve any more drinks either, because their beverages had just showed up, despite a corpse lying in the middle of the restaurant.

His bad feeling had started to return. He looked back and forth between their table and the dead woman's. There was something about it that was bothering him. Grabbing the nearest waiter, he asked. "Hey dude, could you tell me what kind of wine that is?" He pointed at the dead woman's wine glass.

The waiter looked and exclaimed, "Oh, that's one of our best wines…" Shawn swallowed hard as the waiter continued, "It's called Château Lynch-Bages."

Shawn didn't wait until the waiter was done speaking. He practically flew the thirty feet to their table. Marlowe was smiling again and had just picked up her glass of wine to drink it.

"NO!" Shawn shouted and knocked the wine out of her hand. Unfortunately it ended up splashing onto Marlowe's upper chest and neck, staining her dress.

"Oops…"

* * *

Carlton was on his feet instantly. He grabbed Shawn by the shirt collar and pushed him hard up against the booth next to them. Shawn winced with the impact as his back hit the wood at an awkward angle. "What the hell is the matter with you? We've all humored you enough with the whole poison nonsense! What else is it? Is there a killer in the bathroom? How about you psychically tell me how my desk chair keeps getting glued to the floor? Huh? How much attention do you need Spencer!?"

Carlton's voice rose in volume as he took out his frustrations about being demoted right after he got married, humiliated, and had his one night he'd been looking forward to ruined by one of Shawn's psychic mumbo jumbo theories.

"Carlton it's okay, I'm sure it was just an accident." Marlow took a handful of napkins and started to wipe herself off.

Hearing the commotion, Juliet rushed over to see her partner throttling Shawn. "CARLTON! What-?"

"Your _boyfriend_ here had another fit and dumped wine all over my wife." Carlton accentuated his statement by giving Shawn one last shove before letting him go.

Juliet's brow furrowed, obviously trying to find some explanation for her boyfriend's antics, "Shawn what's going on?"

Shawn slumped to the side a little, he could already feel the bruise forming on his upper back. He quickly put his pain to use as he flung himself forward, grabbing blindly at the table pretending to be deep in the throes of a psychic vision. "Oh! I'm getting something!" He reached out and grabbed Carlton's untouched wine glass, "I'll have what she's having!" He hollered out his best When Harry Met Sally impression. "Wait a minute… _she_!" He shouted in fake realization. "This wine is the same one the victim had!" He put the glass down a lot more carefully than he would have under other circumstances and finished his performance by draping his arm around Carlton's shoulders and sagging, getting his own little version of payback.

Carlton stiffened under his grasp, it dawned on him that Marlowe had just been _very_ close to drinking poisoned wine. He then realized that she was wearing an entire glass of the stuff all over her and her dress. Shrugging off Shawn's arm he ran to his wife and looked her over. "Marlowe, how are you feeling? Faint? How many fingers am I holding up?" He held up two fingers.

"I feel fine Carlton." She gently pushed her husband's fingers out of the way and gave Shawn a worried look. "This was poisoned?"

Nodding, Shawn confirmed, "Most likely, but the fact that you aren't dead tells us that it needs to be ingested." Looking over the extent of the spill he figured she might want to go wash up as soon as possible to avoid getting any in her mouth.

Juliet must have thought the same thing. "Marlowe, c'mon. Let's get you cleaned up." She reached for Marlowe and helped her out of the booth, being careful not to touch the spilled wine just in case Shawn was right. She cast a stern glance at Carlton, which blatantly told him to _be nice_, before leading the other woman to the bathroom.

Carlton was silent after they left. He was definitely worried for Marlowe.

"She'll be fine." Shawn reassured. "If the spirits are right, that woman got a_ massive_ dose of whatever it was and Marlowe looks right as rain."

Without looking at Shawn, Carlton asked. "How did you know?"

"You can't be much of a detective if you keep having to ask me that question after seven years." Shawn deadpanned.

Carlton finally turned around, his face red from holding back his emotions, "God damn it Spencer be serious! My wife could have _died_!"

"Yeah, and _I_ saved her!" Shawn pointed at himself. "It seems to MEthat you should be a little more grateful and a lot less Robert De Niro from Taxi Driver."

The rage drained out of Carlton almost instantly. "Spencer I-"

"Excuse me, Officer Lassiter?"

Grateful to whatever God there was that he was saved from publicly apologizing to Shawn, Carlton turned towards the voice. It was a young man, about thirty five, with neatly cut short brown hair. He was dressed professionally in a gray suit, and wore black wide brimmed glasses. He also had a detective badge on his belt.

Carlton had seen the man around the station but had never asked him his name. He just knew he was transferred to them a couple months before. "Detective." Carlton greeted. "I can't quite remember your name. I know I've seen you around."

The detective clearly looked annoyed at not being remembered, but held his hand out anyway. "Detective Harold Fulton. A pleasure to meet someone with such a _distinguished_ career." Carlton, never one to turn down a compliment, smiled and shook his hand. "Such a shame we have to meet under these circumstances."

Carlton nodded, "You got here fast. O'Hara couldn't have called more than five minutes ago."

Harold shrugged, "I was in the neighborhood."

It didn't seem like anyone else was with him, which was odd for a suspected murder. "Where's the rest of the backup and how did you get in?" Carlton asked curiously.

"The Chief sent me in to meet up with Detective O'Hara. We're going to question any suspects, if there are suspects to even question." Harold added skeptically with a glance to Shawn. It seemed to Carlton that the detective would rather be anywhere but where he was and with the lack of other police officers, Trout didn't believe there was a situation either. "As for your other question, the manager heard me knocking on the back door and let me in." Harold shrugged.

Shawn started to look uncomfortable at the new detective's arrival and had apparently decided to make a hasty exit. "I'm going to let everyone else know about the drinks… be back in a bit." He headed off with a sympathetic look over his shoulder.

Shawn's behavior struck Carlton as strange but he continued talking with Harold, "So, what brings you to Santa Barbara?"

Harold seemed uncomfortable with the question, "I needed a change of pace and wanted to focus more on my career." He started to get impatient. "Where's Detective O'Hara?"

"Here!" Juliet called as she and Marlowe emerged from behind the row of booths from the direction of the restroom. Marlowe looked a lot cleaner, but she was still avoiding touching her dress, in case the poison was still on her. There was only so much she could clean up without a shower and a change of clothes.

Harold looked Marlowe up and down appreciatively. "You have a very beautiful wife detective."

Marlowe blushed and Carlton, with a tinge of jealousy added, "I know."

Juliet, finally getting a look at Harold, stopped and stared at him, "Detective Fulton… what are you doing here?"

Carlton looked back and forth between Juliet and Harold in confusion. "Do you two know each other?"

"Well, um." Juliet hesitated, "He's kind of my new partner." At Carlton's crestfallen look she tried to explain quickly, "It happened just this week and I didn't want to tell you and ruin our dinner. I was going to say something about it tomorrow. I promise!"

"You told Spencer though didn't you!?" Carlton scoffed, "I was wondering why he slinked off so fast when Buddy Holly here showed up."

Affronted, Harold started to protest but Juliet held up a hand, "Guys! We have a situation here. Petty squabbles can wait till later." She shot Carlton an apologetic glance.

Nodding, Carlton reluctantly agreed, "Alright, first thing we need to do is narrow down our list of suspects. I'll talk to the manager-"

Harold cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to tell you this _officer_, but Chief Trout gave specific instructions that you were to stay out of this. Detective O'Hara and I will continue with the investigation. You are free to go sit and wait with your wife."

The hurt registered for only a moment in Carlton's features before he composed himself. "If that's what the Chief wants. I'll stay here."

Sensing her husband's mood, Marlowe grabbed his arm lightly, pulling him away while giving the offending detective, Harold, a murderous glare for upsetting her husband.

"We'd better start getting everyone together." Juliet sighed. So far everyone was still sitting at their tables. She could see Shawn talking with the waiters, and was glad to see the drinks were being whisked away and gathered up, but not disposed of due to now being evidence.

Harold nodded once and led the way across the dining room getting everyone's attention so he could give instructions for the interrogations.

Juliet turned away from him and leaned over to Carlton, "We'll talk later okay?"

He frowned and motioned in the direction Harold went. "You might want to follow your new partner."

Throwing her hands up and giving up for now, Juliet walked off, leaving Carlton to wallow a bit longer before trying to talk to him again.

Trying to cheer her husband up, Marlowe stated, "It'll be okay Honey Bear. Everyone who matters knows how great of a detective you are." Carlton gave a small smile, "I could slash his tires in the parking lot." She offered. "Lil' Sis taught me how to make a sharp shiv with a knife that can go through rubber… and protective vests like butter."

Now chuckling, Carlton pulled her close, only touching her back and avoiding the spilled poisoned drink. "You always know just what to say baby."

* * *

**END NOTES: I had to put some Shawn whump in there. There was no way Carlton was going to let the wine spill slide.**


	3. Appetizing Information

**Chapter 3: Appetizing Information**

Shawn, from across the room, had watched the exchange carefully while keeping up his conversation with one of the waiters. He'd started out searching for suspicious people on his trip around the dining room, but so far had only seen worry and fear, both normal emotions for a tense situation, and no one was acting too out of sorts. The staff had been kind and cooperative so far, removing the food and drinks from people's tables, lest they be poisoned.

He was also trying to wrap his head around something. Why would the woman be targeted, but at the same time, Marlowe and Carlton? Shawn wondered if they were the targets, or the woman… maybe someone else. He knew he didn't have enough evidence to accuse anyone, yet, but hopefully he'd find something soon.

The waitress from before, Denise, had come up to him and asked if there was anything else she could do to help, now that everyone was gathered together. By then Shawn was focusing more on Carlton's reactions to Juliet's new partner. Waving a hand dismissively he said, "Just make sure people are comfortable I guess. I know from experience, these questionings take a long time."

The waitress blanched. "Um, how long?"

Shawn shrugged, still looking at Carlton, being led back to the booth by his wife. "I dunno, a few hours. Maybe more."

She glanced at the sheet covering the dead woman, "What about her, and the smell?"

"Dude, you watch too many movies. Dead bodies don't start to smell for a while." He looked up once more at Carlton, and decided it was time to intervene. Despite the manhandling earlier, Shawn couldn't bear to see the detective so down. He squeezed past the Denise, "Excuse me."

By the time Shawn got to the table, Carlton was at least smiling again. "Hey Lassie, why aren't you calming the masses? We all know how well you deal with emotionally damaged people."

"Chief Trout ordered me to stay out of it while O'Hara and what's-his-face take care of things." Carlton grumbled, his smile disappearing.

Shawn stared in disbelief. He knew Trout was an A-Hole but sidelining one of their own, probably out of some sick sense of control, was too much. _Especially_ when lives were on the line. "I don't believe it! Trout-blocked? Lassie, don't tell me you're just going to roll-over and give up on this!"

Too upset to balk at the dual dog reference, Carlton just shook his head. "Unlike you Spencer, I know when to shut up and listen to my superiors."

"Oh my God… Carlton Lassiter, backing down to _Chief_ Trout. Now I've definitely heard it all, and trust me, I've heard a lot."

Carlton's brow furrowed and he looked at Marlowe. She gave him a half-cocked smile and asked, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

"To hell with it!" Carlton exclaimed, finally giving in. "I can't believe I am saying this but you're right. I'll show that cold fish what a _real_ detective can do." Carlton stood up, proudly, his confidence returning.

"Yes!" Shawn exclaimed. "That's the Honey Bear I know."

"_Shut it!"_ Carlton hissed before getting down to business. "We need to start with anyone who would have had access to that wine." He looked around the room, "I wonder how many employees there are. Looks like a lot for the number of people here."

Shawn nodded in agreement. Putting his finger to his temple and closing his eyes, he remembered glimpsing a schedule for the week when he was walking around. Focusing in on this shift, he informed them of who was working. "There are four waiters on, two bartenders, one manager, and a bunch of kitchen staff." He hadn't seen the kitchen staff's schedule though. Looking over, he saw Juliet and Harold were already questioning the guests in the main dining room. "You'll be spotted if you just go up and start interrogating people, so you might want to try checking out the kitchen first. Someone could have left something behind there, and everyone's cleared out so you shouldn't be bothered."

"Good idea." Carlton looked down at his wife. "I gotta go to work baby."

"Go get um Tiger." Marlowe smiled.

As Carlton strode proudly by, Shawn couldn't help but comment, "A Spiderman reference? Really?" he shook his head and pulled out his phone, dialing Gus. If anyone could help out with figuring out the poison, so they could locate the poison-urderer, it would be him.

_"Burton Guster."_

"Hey buddy, I have a favor to ask…"

_"Aren't you supposed to be out on a double date with Lassiter and Juliet?"_ His friend questioned.

"Dude, someone keeled over right in the middle of the restaurant. It was poison, I'm sure of it, I just need some info to narrow things down."

_"Okay, what information?"_

Shawn flashed back on the woman, trying to pick out any specifics he could give his friend. "Uh, dilated pupils, dizziness, very sudden death." Shawn pictured the wine glass. It had had more than one sip out of it before she died so the taste was either nonexistent, or blended well in the wine. "aaaand…wouldn't have tasted weird."

_"Hmmm. Most things would leave a taste."_

"Oh!" Shawn exclaimed, "And it has to be gestated. It doesn't go through skin."

_"You mean ingested Shawn."_ Gus asked.

"Gus, that's what happens when a baby is in a woman's stomach. Don't tell me your parent's never told you that." Shawn scoffed.

_"I will hang up on you Shawn."_

"Fine fine fine!" Shawn gave in. "Okay, so it needs to be… swallowed."

_"Undetectable, needs to be swallowed, dizziness, dilated pupils, fast acting_._"_ Gus repeated and Shawn guessed Gus was looking things up in his pharmaceutical book. _"Well, arsenic is out. You get that on your skin and you're toast._"

Shawn shuddered to think that he could have been the reason Marlowe died. Luck had been with them that the poison didn't go through the skin.

_"Huh, listen to these side effects; dialated pupils, blurred vision, loss of balance; that would explain the dizziness... hallucinations too.. If she died that fast it must have been an extremely high dose but it all seems to fit, except for-"_ Gus paused.

"Except for what?" Shawn hated to be held in suspense.

_"Oh. My. God._ _This guy is crafty."_

"Gus, I will put Saran Wrap on your toilet seat if you don't get to the point." Shawn's threat wasn't idle, especially since Gus admitted to him that he peed sitting down.

_"Atropa Belladonna!"_

"Gesundhiet"

_"Shawn! It's deadly night shade! The berries are sweet, and wouldn't be detected in wine. Straight atropine is bitter so is any other part of the plant. It has to be the berries!"_

"Where the heck would someone get a bunch of poisonous berries, and why? Aren't there a lot easier ways to kill someone?" Shawn asked. Not only were there better ways, it was risky too. They had to poison the wine, get it back into the shelf, make sure it was brought to the right person, then make sure they drank it. "It seems a bit complicated."

_"Not if you wanted to get away with it. Atropine is used as a medicine too and they don't usually test for that stuff when it looks like a heart attack, or stroke."_

Now _that_ made sense to Shawn. Come in, poison the wine and get out. Something had to have gone wrong though. After checking the restaurant and drinks, he'd found out that no one else had ordered that wine but the lady who died, and Carlton, for him and Marlowe. The conclusion was pretty grim, he had to let Juliet know. "Thanks buddy. I'll take it from here."

_"You sure you don't want me to come down?"_ Gus offered.

"Nah, they won't let you in anyway, we're locked in till we figure this thing out buddy." Shawn sighed. He didn't even get anything to eat and they had the kitchen shut down now too.

_"Let me know how it goes… and Shawn, if you ever put Saran Wrap on my toilet seat again, I will kill you."_

Shawn winced and cursed himself for not remembering he'd already pulled that prank on his friend a couple years ago. "Fair enough."

* * *

"For the last time!" The victim's husband snapped angrily. "I don't know! She was fine all evening. She took a drink and then said she felt dizzy. Then-then…" The man started to cry again.

Juliet felt horrible having to have the man rehash things, but the more information they had, the faster they would catch her murderer. "Thank you for your time sir." She put a hand on the man's shoulder, trying to offer any comfort she could.

"Maybe that young man was right!" One of the other table guests, a woman, stated. "Maybe she was poisoned." The others, including the victim's husband, nodded. "That damn nephew of hers has been after her antique clock for years. I think he finally did her in just so he could get it." She started digging in her purse for a pen. "I can give you his address if you need."

Harold held up a hand, "No, that's okay. We'll keep it in mind though. Thank you for your time." As Harold turned around, he widened his eyes at Juliet, clearly expressing his belief that the woman was a little bit nuts. She did her best to hide a smile.

Juliet didn't know much about Harold, only that he'd transferred to Santa Barbara from somewhere out east. He was quiet about the reason, but he seemed nice enough though, and was a competent detective. She suddenly started to feel guilty, here she was on her and Carlton's partner anniversary, thinking about how it wouldn't be so bad to have Harold as a partner.

While trying to figure out who to interrogate next, one of the waitresses caught her eye. It was their waitress from before. The one who delivered the poisoned wine to the table. She was heatedly chatting on the phone just inside the kitchen entrance. It didn't look like the conversation was going well by the look on the woman's face. She narrowed her eyes and started walking towards her when Harold stopped her, "O'Hara."

She turned to face him and he shook his head. "Look, I know you were being cautious, but I just don't see anything that would point to this as a poisoning. It would be faster to get all these people's names and addresses, and go back to the SBPD to figure things out."

"Shawn thinks it's poison. I have to agree. The sudden death doesn't make sense."

"C'mon, you have to admit this is a stretch. We have no evidence, no one saw anything. I'm not going to go off of a hunch just because you want to believe your boyfriend." Juliet scowled. Harold was sounding too much like Carlton for her tastes.

Juliet would not budge. She knew something was up, and that Shawn was right. Not just because he was her boyfriend, but because she trusted him. After her realization that he'd never been psychic, it had taken a while to earn that trust back but now that he had, she wasn't going to just fold at the first roadblock.

"We still haven't questioned the staff yet. I want to see if they saw anything suspicious."

Harold grumbled a bit. "Okay, I'll meet you there. I need to go use the restroom." He admitted and walked off.

Distraction gone, Juliet turned around to find their waitress had already moved on and was helping other people. She made a mental note to catch her later. She then spotted Shawn moving through the tables to get to her. "Shawn, did you get anything?"

"I got that your partner looked like was doing the potty dance." He watched the retreating detective as he headed to the bathrooms.

_"Shawn..."_ Juliet warned. This was no time for joking.

Shawn sighed, " Okay, I called Gus and I definitely know the who and what, just not the why." Shawn pouted. "I think I know what killed her, but if I'm right, it wasn't supposed to kill _her_."

Juliet blinked, "I don't follow you Shawn."

"Lassie and Marlowe. Someone here," Shawn pointed around the room and whispered close to Juliet, "wants to kill them." Juliet's heart felt like it dropped to her feet. "Gus said something about the poison being belladonna berries."

She'd heard of those, they were incredibly deadly, even in low doses, maybe four or five could kill a grown man. Fearing the worst, she looked towards the table, and saw only Marlowe, who was still working on getting the wine out of her dress, the pile of used napkins was getting pretty high. "Where's Carlton?" When Shawn looked at the ground she didn't have to guess what happened. "You talked him into investigating didn't you." There was no way Carlton would ignore a direct order, unless Shawn got him riled up enough. He'd done it before, on more than one occasion. "SHAWN! He was told to stay out of it!"

"I'm sorry! I got caught up in the moment!" Shawn defended. "Besides, if he solves this one before your new partner, Trout would see what a good detective he is and he'd have to give him his old job back."

Knowing he meant well but still angry at him anyway, Juliet stormed off to look for her real partner. "Stay with Marlowe. I'll be back when I find Carlton."

* * *

**END NOTES:** **Shawn is really good at getting Lassie to do things he normally wouldn't do in a million years, and it isn't always a good thing. :D**


	4. Cooking the Main Course

**Chapter 4: Cooking the Main Course**

A few minutes after storming into the kitchen and looking around, Carlton started to have second thoughts about the whole investigation thing. Sure, if he solved this one he'd be a hero, but if he flubbed it up he could be in a worse situation with Trout. It was risky, and any other time he wouldn't have minded it, but he had a wife now. He had someone who depended on him and his steady income to survive. "Damn it Spencer, I'm not letting you talk me into this kind of thing again."

Turning around to leave the kitchen and give Shawn a piece of his mind, he heard a hushed whisper coming from the other end. He stopped to listen.

"I just did my job! How was I supposed to know the wine was poisoned?" A woman's voice complained. "The bottle was just left out! I thought someone had just used it." There was a pause, and the bitterness in her voice was evident. "I bet you a million bucks it was Larry, he was hanging around the kitchen more for some reason and seemed a little _too_ interested in the wine. No one has seen him since right after it happened too."

Carlton started to wonder who this "Larry" was. He peeked around the corner and saw their waitress, Denise, talking on the phone. She looked like she'd been crying and was probably calling a friend to tell her what happened.

There was silence for a while before the waitresses voice rose an octave as she started to panic, "The police won't think I did it will they?! I don't want to get fired over this. That poor old lady, I can't believe she got killed."

It sounded like the target had been the woman after all, and the wine he and his wife had gotten was a mistake. Carlton started to breathe easier. Now all he had to do was find this Larry person and get him to talk.

Denise continued talking, "If I hadn't gotten side tracked, she probably wouldn't have died, but that police officer and his wife would be dead... how sad is that?"

Carlton's blood froze. If the waitress had been side tracked, the wine HAD been for them, which meant Marlowe was still in danger, and he'd left her! It was some kind of murderous conspiracy and the whole restaurant seemed to be in on it. He shifted and his polished shoe made a squeak noise on the tile floor.

"Someone's coming! I gotta go. Say hi to dad for me." Denise closed her phone and left quickly.

Catching his breath and trying not to panic, Carlton spun around to go warn his wife, only to be hit in the head with something hard, causing him to black out.

* * *

It was hot when he woke up. Too hot, and it was getting steadily warmer. Carlton's eyes shot open and he looked around. He was propped up in some kind of metal box with a glass door. There were spaces for racks but there were none in it. He supposed who'd ever put him in there had taken them out. The spinning in his head subsided a bit and he realized he'd been stuffed him in a standing bread oven.

"Oh great." Carlton whined and wiped away sweat from his brow.

He tried the door but it was locked tight. There was no room to slam himself against it so he tried to push off from the back. "OW!" The metal was starting to get really heated and painful to touch. He couldn't move away from the sides either. "HEY!" He shouted, "ANYONE OUT THERE!" He knew it was a long shot, because they'd already had everyone clear out and go to the main dining room.

When no one came, he tried reaching for his gun but the space was so confining he couldn't get bend down to get to the one on his ankle. He knew he shouldn't have let Marlowe talk him into taking only one gun.

It was starting to get hard to breathe and it was all he could do to not touch the sides any more with his bare skin. As it was his suit was starting to smolder and the soles of his shoes were starting to heat up too. Pretty soon they started to melt. Whoever put him in here had to have turned the damn thing up to Broil for it to heat up that fast.

*Cough* _"Help…" _He gasped for air, and burned his hands banging on the glass. The action also caused his head to start spinning from the blow he took. Sweat was pouring off him and he knew it was only a matter of time before he started to cook. His suit was burned through and his skin was starting to blister. He hit the glass a few more times with renewed vigor, he needed to get out, now.

Just as he was about to pass out from the heat, the door flew open and strong delicate hands caught him as he fell out of the oven. He gasped and sucked in cool air before his lungs rebelled and he started having a coughing fit.

"Carlton! Oh my God, what happened!"

* * *

Juliet walked into the kitchen, she'd searched around the dining room with no sign of her partner. She was starting to get very worried. Suddenly, she heard banging. It was faint, and with the echo in the large kitchen, she couldn't tell where it was coming from. The sound stopped briefly before starting again, louder this time.

She made her way to the back of the kitchen where she saw a light coming from one of the ovens, and a familiar hand beating on the glass. "CARLTON!" She screamed and ran up. Her partner was locked in, almost unconscious and starting to sag forward. She threw the metal lock and shut it off before swinging the door open and catching him when he fell.

"Oh my God, what happened!" He was soaked in sweat and she pulled her hand back as his suit was smoldering and hot enough to burn her.

"The killer... the killer is someone named Larry." Carlton got out, trying to catch his breath.

Juliet gave him a confused look. She remembered that was the name of the manager. He'd seemed so helpful at the time, but it was sometimes hard to tell who the crazy ones where. Looking around, she didn't see anyone. She had to find Harold so they could search. The manager was the only other one with the keys to the place, and it had been at least twenty minutes since she'd told him to lock the doors.

"Alright Carlton, can you stand?"

Carlton nodded and got his feet under him, wobbling a bit before catching himself. He shook his head to clear it before he remembered his wife was in danger too. "O'Hara! Where's Marlowe?!"

She put up her hands to stop him from rushing back to the dining room. "She's safe. Shawn is with her."

"That's not comforting O'Hara. Spencer is the one who got me gallivanting off in the first place."

"I got who, what?" A voice from behind her asked.

Juliet spun around, drawing her weapon and pointing it right at Shawn's nose.

"WHOA! Relax babe!" Shawn put his hands up.

Dropping her weapon and scoffing, she gave him an angry glare. "You are supposed to be guarding Marlowe!"

Shawn pointed to the dining room over his shoulder, "Your partner showed up and said he would watch her. Better him than me. He's the one with a gun."

"We need to find that manager." Carlton gasped out, "The waitress said that she thought he'd been hanging around the kitchen and seemed interested in the wine. The woman was an accident. Damn guy left the bottle out and another waiter served it to her." He explained while holding himself up with the counter.

Shawn shrugged. "Well, he's not out there. I would have sensed him." Juliet knew now by sensed, he meant seen.

They quickly checked the back kitchen door, and found that it was still locked. The emergency exit was still closed too, besides the alarm would have sounded if anyone had tried to open it anyway. Juliet knew it meant that the manager was still in the kitchen. "Split up. He's probably hiding somewhere in here."

"Whoa wait a second." Shawn exclaimed, putting his hand to his head before pointing to a freezer that was cracked open slightly, a slow stream of mist was leaking out.

They cast worried glances around as Juliet pulled her sidearm again and Carlton bent over and grabbed his Smith & Wessen MP 40 from his ankle holster to back her up. The action on his burned hands seemed to be painful.

Shawn, not to be outdone, grabbed the closest weapon he could find, a rolling pin. Wielding it like a bat, he nodded that he was ready too.

Juliet swung the door open and waved a hand in front of her face to clear the mist away. As it dissipated, they made out the hastily positioned body of the manager, blood pooling around the fatal wound to his head. The unfortunate man's boot, had been stopping the door from closing.

"Okaaaay..." Juliet backed out of the freezer. She was seriously freaked out. "If it's not him, who's the killer?" She turned to Shawn, who had gone still with his hand to his head, apparently lost in thought. "Shawn?" She waved her hand in front of his face, but he didn't seem to see it.

Shawn snapped out of it a moment later and had gone very pale. "Oh no. We gotta find Marlowe!"

* * *

**END NOTES: Lassie whump! Was a fun one to figure out, the kitchen has so many dangerous things in it...**


	5. Finally Getting Desserts

**Chapter 5: Finally Getting Desserts**

Shawn ran through the kitchen to the other side of the restaurant where their table was. He couldn't believe he missed it. He felt like an idiot, and is dad would have a field day with this one. The only other person who could have done everything, the wine, assault Carlton, and kill the manager was the one person he'd left Marlowe with. Detective Harold Fulton.

Carlton and Juliet were right behind him as he sped around the corner and skidded to a halt. Juliet stopped as well, but Carlton kept going, his blue eyes blazing with hatred. Shawn was barely able to hold him back from the detective currently holding a gun to his wife.

"You son of a bitch!" Carlton clawed, trying to get past Shawn's bear hug.

Shawn held on, "Woah! Lassie! Lassie stop!" The guy was already injured, and Shawn did his best to not grab onto his burns.

Harold smirked and pressed the gun to Marlowe's shoulder harder. "Careful detective- Oh excuse me, _Officer_ Lassiter. I just might press this trigger too hard." Marlowe's eyes widened in fear as she gripped the arm that was snaked around her neck.

Shawn turned around, still holding Carlton back, but the fight had gone out of him at Harold's words. Glancing around, Shawn realized the murderer had opened the doors and let everyone out, because the restaurant was completely empty. He must not have wanted any witnesses to what he was planning on doing once he realized the jig was up.

Juliet's mouth was hanging open in disbelief. "How?"

"I know how." Shawn turned completely around to face Harold while still keeping his body in between him and Carlton. He put a finger to his head and curled his lip, disgusted. He had a really sore spot for dirty cops. "You brought the poison in just as we got here. You knew we'd be here today, everyone at the station did. It's tradition." Harold smirked as Shawn continued, "Everyone at the station _also_ knew that Lassie was planning on surprising Marlowe with her favorite wine. Chatty Lint Bags."

"Château Lynch-Bages." Marlowe corrected.

"I've heard it both ways." Shawn shrugged and continued, "You brought in your own bottle of the wine dosed with your little poisoned berries and probably just went to the kitchen and put on the counter, knowing they'd serve it to the first people who ordered the wine. Then you left, thinking your plan to murder said detective and his wife was all going perfectly."

"But it didn't did it?" Carlton interrupted. "The wine was brought to another person by an unsuspecting waiter." Carlton was beginning to struggle past Shawn again.

Harold snorted, "If you weren't so cheap and gotten the damn bottle, no one else would have had to die."

Shawn planted his feet and continued with the reveal, hoping to distract Harold enough until help arrived. Juliet, his smart woman, had taken out her cell phone and dialed the station as he blocked her from view. The SBPD was currently listening to the whole thing.

Remembering Carlton had commented on how fast Harold had arrived, Shawn rolled with it. "You probably weren't three blocks away when the call came in from Trout and you found out your plan failed So you had to go _back_ to the restaurant and help out with the investigation."

"Why kill the waiter though?" Juliet asked, still blown away that _another_ of her partners had turned out to be a crazed killer.

Shawn explained, "Larry must have recognized you when he unlocked the doors to let you in, didn't he? He probably spotted you the first time you were here hanging around the kitchen, waiting for the time to plant the wine on the counter, and realized _you_ were the one who could have left the poisoned wine. So you took him out! BOOSH!" Shawn made a bashing motion with his hand.

"He would have ruined everything! I had to!" Harold defended, grasping Marlowe tighter.

Shawn scoffed, "And then you tried _everything _to side track the poison angle. Claiming Lassie couldn't help wasn't too much of a stretch, Trout already has him in the dog house." The phrase earned him a death glare from the already angry Carlton, "But you didn't expect super cop _Carlton Lassiter _to be investigating anyway." Shan hoped that made up for the dog comment. He really didn't want to sleep with one eye open for the next week.

Harold's smug smile turned into a frown. "How do you know all this!?"

Juliet's eyes widened in realization. "You saw Carlton leave the table!"

"Exactly Jules." Shawn grinned at her and nodded in Harold's direction. "You spotted your chance to get to Lassie and followed him to the kitchen."

Harold had then come out of the kitchen after putting Carlton in the oven, and since the bathrooms were right next to it, Shawn hadn't thought anything about it when he'd offered to protect Marlowe while Shawn went to look for Juliet and Carlton himself.

Carlton was finally able to push Shawn out of the way, but he didn't move any closer. He wanted to be able to look into the eyes of the man threatening his wife. "What I wanna know is why? You don't even know us!"

"Beg to differ Lassiter!" Harold started to shake with anger, "I've been here for two months, and all I've ever heard about is you. Lassiter this, Lassiter that. Oh he's such a great detective. I left my last precinct after ten years of career stagnation because of a "perfect" head detective. I realized as soon as I got here, it would be the same thing with you around. If I was ever going to get that head detective job, I'd have to take you out. Your wife was just collateral damage."

Shawn had a feeling Harold's mind broke, long before coming to the SBPD.

"News flash loony!" Carlton shouted. "I'm not Head Detective anymore!"

Harold laughed humorlessly, "For now anyway. We all know that as soon as Chief Vick comes back in six months you'll be right back where you were, and I'd still be stuck where I am, a nobody."

Shawn still hadn't found any kind of opening. The guy was a detective and it didn't seem like he wasn't going to give them one. Shawn didn't have to be a rocket surgeon to know that after that admission, he was planning on killing them all anyway.

Harold smiled, smug that he had the group right where he wanted them. He must have wanted to rub it in more, because he dropped his nose to Marlowe's neck, sniffing. "Your wife _is_ very pretty detective..."

Marlowe made a disgusted face and moved her head away. Carlton however, had taken a step forward.

Leveling the gun on Carlton, Harold proceeded to enrage the officer more by kissing Marlowe's neck, then trailing down to her shoulder. "Let her go!" Carlton shouted. It took both Juliet and Shawn to hold him back.

Shawn suddenly got an idea. Getting Marlowe's attention, he pointed to his skin right around his collarbone. She widened her eyes, letting him know she knew what to do.

Marlowe, stopped moving away. She hummed appreciatively and let him continue to kiss down her shoulder and onto her arm.

Carlton stopped struggling and his look of wrath changed to one of shock and betrayal. Juliet looked on as well, wondering what the heck had gotten into the woman. After another couple kisses, Harold made a face and smacked his lips. "What's that taste?" His words were already slurring.

Shawn smiled widely as the plan worked. Marlowe's entire upper torso had been soaked with the poison wine... her skin had poisoned him. He dropped the gun as his hands started to go limp, and Marlowe took the opportunity to elbow him in the face and rush forward, out of danger.

Harold fell back, clutching his head.

"That would be the dizziness and loss of balance." Shawn described the side effects of the poison that Gus had listed off for him.

"What's going on!?" Harold squinted and rubbed his eyes. "I can't see!"

As he groped blindly, Carlton, free to act, tackled him to the ground and knocked him out with a well-placed punch to the jaw.

Shawn nodded, "Aaaaand that would be the blurred vision. I have to take Gus out for a smoothie for this one."

Juliet went up to Marlowe, "Are you okay?"

Marlowe nodded and ran to Carlton's arms, "I'm so sorry! I had to, I couldn't let him hurt you."

"You are one crafty woman baby." Careful not to touch her below the neck, he kissed her tenderly on the lips.

The group suddenly jumped as the door burst in and police started to pile into the restaurant, guns drawn, followed closely by Chief Trout. Nose wrinkling in annoyance, Trout walked up to them taking in the scene, a dead body by one of the tables, a knocked out detective, and an empty restaurant that he'd specifically told said unconscious detective to keep locked. He put his hands on his hips. "Okay, does someone want to volunteer an explanation for all this?"

Everyone looked at each other for a moment, unsure if anyone would believe what actually happened. Shawn took a deep breath and stepped forward, raising a finger. "If I may, I can explain everything that went on here."

Glaring suspiciously, Trout nodded. "Continue."

Shawn clapped his hands and began. "Well it's like this: Officer Carlton Lassiter here, realized right away that the victim had been dosed with Jezzabella poisoned berries in her wine..."

* * *

It was late at night when Shawn and Gus showed up to Carlton's hospital room. Both Carlton and Marlowe ended up being taken from the restaurant by an ambulance and admitted to Cottage Hospital. Him for a concussion and a multiple burns, and her to get a charcoal bath to wash the remaining poison off of her body. Juliet had already been there the whole time and had even ridden in the ambulance with them.

"Lassie! Feeling better?" Shawn exclaimed, handing him a small stuffed bear holding a honey pot. The stitching clearly said, "Bee Well."

Marlowe, still moist from her de-tox bath and sitting next to Carlton's bed, loved it instantly, "Oh, Carlton. He got us a Honey Bear."

Even though he wanted nothing more than to take his .45 cal to it, he wasn't going to begrudge her some happiness, especially after that night. He handed it to her, so she could enjoy it and actually admitted to himself that it was kind of cute.

"We also got you these." Gus pulled out a Styrofoam box from behind his back. He opened it, presenting the cream puffs Marlowe had mentioned Carlton liked.

Carlton stared at the dessert in shock, "Where did you get those?"

Shawn grinned, "Well, after you were taken to the hospital, the owner of the restaurant came in and we talked him into giving you a life time supply if you promise not to sue him."

He honestly hadn't been planning on suing the restaurant anyway, so Carlton gratefully took the desserts in his bandaged hands. "Spencer," He had to know something and now that they were Troutless, he figured Shawn just may give a straight answer. "Why did you tell Trout I found out about the poison?" He honestly couldn't fathom why the normally attention hungry psychic gave away all the glory of saving Marlowe's life and helping solve the case.

Shawn shrugged, Trout hadn't exactly jumped on Carlton's bandwagon but at least he didn't demote him more for disobeying orders again, apparently Trout _had_ wanted Carlton to stay out of things. "I have no reason to suck up to the guy. He made it pretty clear he wasn't going to hire us again, but you still have your job man. If giving you some props gets you back in his good graces, it would be a good thing. Right?"

Carlton was actually touched. "Thank you Spencer."

Waving away the compliment Shawn snorted, "Anyone who can get someone trying to murder him because he was too good doesn't need my help too badly I guess." Shawn noticed Juliet was being very quiet. "What's wrong Jules?"

Juliet frowned. "I can't believe I didn't see it." She'd been feeling guilty about the whole situation. "I should have known after Drimmer that Fulton had something wrong with him."

Shawn took her hand and kissed it. "Don't feel too bad Jules, not every partner you get besides Lassie is going to be a murderer."

Gus made a skeptical noise, "Speak for yourself, I'm still not sure he _didn't_ kill that guy."

Shawn tsked in his friend's direction and Juliet laughed. "My point is, you can't know everything sweetheart. Don't beat yourself up about it."

Carlton nodded in agreement. "You did good O'Hara."

"You did good tonight too Shawn. Thank you for what you did for Carlton." Marlowe smiled at him.

"Don't get used to it. With all the kudos he's going to be getting from the station, I might just have to take a shot at him myself to get noticed again."

"Hey!" Carlton whined.

Changing the subject, Gus asked. "So is _former_ detective Fulton going to live?" Harold had also been hauled off in an ambulance.

"I have no idea, he's in intensive care. They tested the wine and found out he put enough Belladonna in it to drop an elephant." Juliet exclaimed.

Cocking his head, Shawn made an amused noise. "Huh...Anyone else find it ironic that the poison-urderer got poisoned by his own poison?"

Juliet nodded. "That is odd."

"I'd call it just desserts." Carlton agreed while currently being spoon cream puffs.

Everyone's eyebrows rose. "Lassie, did you just make a _pun_?" Shawn asked incredulously.

Amused by the puzzled looks, Carlton smirked, "Don't get used to it."

* * *

**END NOTES: Thank you Silverluna for such an awesome prompt. I had so much fun writing this for ya!**


End file.
